PЯOMISE: Lifetime's Worth of Fire
by dahliadenoire
Summary: Canon. Everyone/Friendship. "Let's promise. In everything we do, we should do it together." /DISCONTINUED/


I don't remember how this happened, I don't know how I was caught off guard. All I know is that I'm buying tickets for three certain people to ride a goddamn rollercoaster.

We literally rode all the rides here. Bumper cars, gravitron, reverse bungee, ghost trains, the octopus, and Lockon even thought of going to the Merry-go-round, all three of us rejected at once. The only last ride we have to go was this rollercoaster.

These past few days, Lockon, Neil Dylandy, really got into those mushy friendship stuff and that he wanted to spend more quality time with his friends, saying we don't know how the future will turn its tables and that we don't have any idea when we'll die. In battle or not. Pathetic. I seriously think he watches to much of that Oprah stuff, since when did he get so soft? I swear I should tell him to cut his TV cable off.

* * *

**•**

PЯOMISE

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* * *

Here we are on a noisy and crowded amusement park, packed with teenagers, noisy children, families, couples, and annoying mascots and clowns. We are currently spending _quality time_ with our _friends._

I lined up at the ticket booth, asked by Lockon, to buy tickets for the rollercoaster which they stupidly named 'Space Shuttle'. How awfully ironic. While I stand here figuratively suffering from muscle atrophy, waiting for my turn and standing from a long line, those three bastards were eating hotdogs on a comfortable bench. I hate hotdogs, how can they eat those disgusting stuff? Such support they have given me.

"Setsuna!" I heard Lockon called me from behind as he held a bun of hotdog, I turned my head half way around seeing him approaching me. "What's taking you so long?" He asked as he patted me on the head. I'm not a freaking child! Gundam, help me.

I sighed for the millionth time that day, "Unfortunately, the line is terribly long.. and slow." I replied, an irritated expression evident on my face. I stepped forward a little, as the line kept moving and onto a stop. Lockon followed behind me.

"Are you still mad, Setsu-chan? I promise I'll buy you ice cream~!" Lockon mocked, but he sounded awfully serious that it scared me. My eyebrow twitched. Good fucking Gundam, I'm already 20! A vein popped on my temple as I noticed the line moved again.

Lockon chuckled and placed his hand over my head, ruffling my already messy hair in the process. "I'm just kidding, here." I was surprised when he handed me a hamburger. I looked at him. His height hovering over me.

"We know you hate hotdogs, so we bought you a hamburger, don't worry, it's a treat." He grinned back at me, and went back to Allelujah and Tieria's very resentful bench.

I looked at the food he gave me, and honestly, I was quite touched that they know what I hate and what I like. It surprises me how well they know me while I never really know too much about them. I took a bite as I waited for the line to move again. Only 30 more people to go. I sighed again.

The burger was a real help, I didn't even notice the time passed and that it was my turn next. The others, spotting me, began to walk towards me, throwing their left over food at the trash can.

"Tickets for 4 people." I said to the guy in attendance. He looked like he was in mid-twenties, and the type of guy you see delivering your pizza. He began to examine at my face, and I was rather bothered with it. The others arrived behind me, waiting.

"Sorry kid, only 18 and above." Are you fucking kidding me? Seriously.

"I'm. Already. Twenty." I sternly said, gritting my teeth while doing so. I knew Lockon was mentally laughing and Allelujah was stifling his laugh. Bastards. Tieria is the only one who is actually capable of understanding the situation here.

"Setsuna, you really do look young for your age." Tieria said with a small but evident grin. I thought wrong.

"Sorry kid, I need to see an I.D." the ticket boy demanded.

"I don't have an I.D right now." I replied truthfully.

"_Look kid_, you can't get in this ride if I can't prove you're really 20."

My temper got the best of me and out of anger, grabbed the guy by his collar. I heard Allelujah trying to stop me, grabbing me by my red scarf. I continued and said to the fucking guy's face, "_Look buddy_.." I imitated him, emphasizing his utter foolishness and stupidity. "I am a Gundam Meister. A pilot of a Gundam from Celestial Being, if you don't let me ride this goddamn rollercoaster, I'll personally see to it that I shove a fucking GN beam sword up your sorry ass. My friends and I need to go to this fucking rollercoaster. Now, do you still need my I.D?"

The guy just stared at me, scared. I can't read his expression but he was obviously in a state of shock. Lockon, Allelujah and Tieria looked at me with big surprised eyes. I wasn't surprised though, they have never seen me act this way before, and they were used to the cute little quiet Setsuna. I did _not_ just say that.

"Setsuna, I think that's a bit too—"

"H-Here are 4 tickets! I-It's free!" The guy frantically said, shaking. He clumsily gave us the tickets. Oh well, at least we saved money,

"Let's go." I said. I don't want to see that wretched guy's face. I was the first one to walk off, heading to the rollercoaster's waiting place. Tieria and Allelujah shrugged before following me.

Before Lockon left off, he leaned in closer to the ticket guy and said with a warm smiling face,

"Say this to anyone and I'll personally snipe your family dead." He then left off innocently, leaving the guy frozen and traumatized.

The four us was waiting for the last rollercoaster to end so it's our turn. Allelujah spoke, "Poor guy, I don't think you should have gone that far."

"Thanks to you, our secret might be exposed." Tieria smugly looked away from me. Great, another sermon from Tieria about my irresponsibility and not being able to be a true Gundam Meister. Lockon tried to ease him, placing a hand on his shoulder, saying,

"I'm sure I've scared him enough to dare tell it to anyone. Let's please not spoil the fun that we all asked for." Lockon pleaded.

"We didn't ask for this." All of us except Lockon said simultaneously. Lockon chucklednervously.

There was a loud vrooming sound, similar to a Gundam arriving on a hangar. Not soon after, the coaster arrived, filled with screaming teenagers and adults. How pathetic, it's only a rollercoaster, wait till you ride a Gundam.

The people started to unload until the coaster was empty. A guy was in attendance, guiding passengers into their safety belts and handles.

When I attempted to step onto the coaster, the guy stopped me and said, "Whoa boy, Did Drake let you in?" So that's the ticket guy's name. I should remember telling it to Lockon in case he needed to kill him.

"Yes. He saw my I.D" I am officially mad now. I could feel Allelujah and Lockon try their best to stop their laughs while Tieria only sighed. Finally, the guy let me hop on.

There were four seats on each row, a handle in front of the seats for safety. Since we were the first ones on this batch, we were at the farthest seats at the back. I was at the uttermost left. Allelujah was next to me, then Tieria then Lockon, which makes him at the uttermost right.

I could hear the teases Lockon was giving to Tieria, saying to take off his glasses 'cause it might fall and he looked more pretty without it.

Allelujah turned his head at me and spoke, "Aren't you a little bit scared, Setsuna?" Allelujah asked, hinting his obvious fear.

"No." I said truthfully.

"Wow, such a brave kid."

"I'm not a k—"

Before I knew it, the coaster started to move, it was too fast and accelerated in such high velocity, my reflexes wasn't fast enough to react. My initial reaction was to scream. It was due to the shock of the course, the rollercoaster caught me off guard! I was clearly unprepared.

I heard Lockon and Allelujah cheering, making 'wohoo' noises. Tieria didn't make a sound. The coaster turned in sharp left's and right's causing my head to feel a little shaky. When it made a full loop, I was upside down when I saw Tieria's glasses fall down to the far ground below as he cursed out loud.

All of a sudden, the rollercoaster stopped in a middle of another loop, leaving all the passengers upside down. Oh, great.

Just then, we all heard a microphone saying,

"_There has been technical difficulties. Please remain calm and hold on to your safety handles to prevent accidents while we fix the rollercoaster."_

What a great way to calm people down. Genius. My red scarf hung over my head, clinging onto my neck. I saw a lot of people starting to gather at the ground, hearing the news about the rollercoaster halting in a middle of a fucking loop. I can also see fire trucks heading this way from afar. The passengers panicked, screaming and wailing as they sat on their seats in the wrong side up.

"Oh well, so this is how we die? How unhero-like." Lockon said while we all silently agreed with him, and I thought I would've died in the middle of battle. Lockon continued, "I wish I could've died more heroically, like having my dominant eye injured while fighting some guy who has a war-fetish—"

"Don't say that.." Tieria cut him off, still calm. Why are they so calm?! While I'm here secretly panicking. I heard Lockon continue,

"—then I have to snipe with my untrained eye, then—"

"Lockon, we are not going to die here. I'm sure this isn't part of Aeolia's plan." Allelujah warned and hoped.

"We don't know for sure." Tieria spoke. "Okay, so, the Gundam Meisters died because of a rollercoaster accident therefore they cannot continue the armed interventions and the army would have united the world by then? How tragic."

I sighed. I sure hope this isn't part of Aeolia's plan, I'd rather die inside 00 while trying to fight off the distortions of the world. I'm sure people can't hear us, since we are the back.

"Hey Setsuna, still alright? You're terribly quiet." Lockon asked, "Does your tummy hurt?" I wished he could stop baby-talking me.

"What do you mean? The brat's always quiet." Tieria responded, trying to fix his hair that was now swaying by the grasps of gravity.

"I thought he was traumatized or something, I heard him scream loud, like a girl." Lockon insulted me, that bastard.

"I didn't—"

"We heard it too." Tieria and Allelujah said at the same time.

Damn.

It seriously pissed me off, I don't scream like a girl! I'm not sure but, actually, never mind.

"So, should we make our last wishes for each other?" Allelujah joked.

This is not funny. People are panicking. _I'm_ panicking! By the way, incase you people don't know, we are upside down on a fucking rollercoaster, that can fall off any moment! Seriously, these three aren't human. I can understand Tieria, and Allelujah perhaps. I just think Lockon isn't capable of feeling fear, sadness nor anger. Well, except for the anger part.

"Oh! Me first!" Lockon volunteered, I swear people are wondering why we're playing foolish games in a near-death situation.

He started, "Tieria, first, I wish you don't wear your glasses so frequently." I swear to Gundam, I thought I saw Tieria blush. He continued, "and you should try to be more human, have fun more often, instead of sitting around directly accessing Veda or something." Tieria grunted, "And stop having fights with little Setsuna! He's just a kid~!"

I was more bothered by the words 'little' and 'kid'.

"I'm not a kid." I said impassively.

"Well, you act like one. I am not provoking Setsuna, I'm just telling him off about his stupidity and recklessness." Tieria said while Lockon sighed in lack of hope. There is no use telling Tieria off.

I groaned. When will this fucking rollercoaster move again? My head was starting to throb.

"Wait, wait! I'm not finished yet." Lockon asserted as he continued, "For Setsuna, look, no matter how old you are, you look like a mere high schooler." I looked crossly at him. "Don't get mad, some people your age wished they look younger." He has a point though. "Second, you're still our little boy, Allelujah's already 25, Tieria's—" Tieria gave him a warning look. "Oh, Sorry, and I'm 28. Big age gaps, therefore you are still the baby in the group." I stared at him incredulously. I'm not a baby! I heard Allelujah and Tieria chuckled. Allelujah pinched my cheek as I kept quiet. Because of embarrassment and dizziness.

To be honest, if there were to be an addition to the group, younger than me, I _would_ be a little jealous, since I'm not the _baby_ anymore? Heavens, what am I saying?

"Allelujah." Lockon started again. "I wish you luck with your girlfriend." I saw him wink at him from the corner of my eye. "Take it easy, okay? Don't rush the little lady. She looks like an innocent and pure woman. You—"

"I-I'm not like that!" Allelujah stuttered, blushing from embarrassment. He pouted and said, "We're not gonna do it until we get married."

"Setsuna! Cover your ears! This conversation is not appropriate for children!" Lockon yelled, a little too loud since people started to look behind their backs to see four, no, three idiots talking about something _inappropriate._

"I'm not a kid." I half-yelled, looking crossly at something, crossing my arms together. A small pout forming in my lips.

"You're certainly acting like one." Tieria said again, rubbing his eyes due to his glasses falling down the ground. A vein popped on my forehead. I sighed.

"Oh, which reminds me.."Allelujah said, "Who was that pretty woman you saved—"

"Marina." I said, obviously too fast.

"Oh, Mom! Our little boy is growing up!" Lockon teased, wiping fake and invisible tears from his eyes, referring Tieria as 'Mom'. My face flushed and looked away from them, what the hell am I blushing for anyway?! I looked down and saw more crowds gathering near the rollercoaster area. I swear, my brain must be filled with too much blood by now, it's a matter of time before my head will blow up.

Tieria playfully, or not, punched Lockon on the arm. "It's okay Setsuna, we understand you like older women but she looks young for her age so I think it's okay." Lockon said, making fun of me. I just kept quiet, and my lingering thoughts changed to Marina Ismail. How was she? Did she go back to Azadistan? Or she stayed at Katharon? I should _really _stop thinking right now.

"Oh, let's go back to my death wish." Lockon insisted. "For everyone of us, so it will be fair, in everything we do, we should do it together." All three of us looked at the topsy turvy brunette, letting him continue.

"Because in instances that one of us got in these kind of situations, it seems so unfair that we were unable to experience it as well. And at least we can die together, right?" Truthfully, we were slightly touched by Lockon's words.

"Let's promise.." Allelujah trailed off, Tieria continued, "..in everything we do together.." They looked at me, as if it was my cue.

"..we.. do together." I finished.

"Promise."

"I promise."

"Promise."

"Promise!"

We laughed together, it was tremendously too over-sentimental. It was as if we weren't upside down, it seems like a normal friendly conversation with each other. I felt a warm feeling inside. As if on cue, the people gathering got noisier.

"_Attention! The rollercoaster will begin to move slowly towards the waiting area, please hold on to your handles."_

Mutters and sighs of relief was heard, the passengers calmed a bit as the coaster began to move slowly towards the finishing line.

We all went down safely and onto the ground. The rollercoaster was closed for a while and was under construction to prevent incidents like that all over again. We all went back to the hotdog stall and the bench, they were walking too fast and I was finding it hard to catch up.

"Well would you look at that, we're still alive." Lockon said skeptically, he stretched his arms due to the exposure of being upside down. We already got down from the fucking rollercoaster. There were ambulances present, some suffered from an acute increase of cranial pressure, some were slightly traumatized. The EMT's were surprised the four of us weren't affected at all.

"My head hurts." Allelujah moaned, massaging his head and cracking his knuckles.

"Damn it, I lost my glasses." Tieria complained as he rubbed his eyes again.

"It's God's way of telling you to stop wearing glasses." Lockon mocked, laughing, Tieria looked away.

Since I was the last one to go down, I found it hard to keep up. I walked to them, wobbly. I drifted, and listened to their conversation in a trancelike state. I was vaguely aware of the people around me. Then I felt lightheaded. My body was numb, my vision blurred.

Before I could fall down and drift into unconsciousness, I heard three voices, shouting my name. I felt someone catch me, then I officially collapsed.

* * *

I opened my eyes slowly, and the first thing I saw was gray. It took me awhile to process that it was a car's interior roof. I tried to sit up, only to feel throbbing pain in my head, it caused me to fall back down again. I whimpered agonizingly.

I felt something soft from behind my head, my vision cleared further and I saw Allelujah's smiling face. I knew right then that I was sleeping on a pillow that was on Allelujah's lap the whole time. I tilted my head to the side and saw the window, flashing lights from the city. It was already evening, and the car was quite dark.

"Finally awake?" Allelujah beamed at me. Lockon, who was driving, yelled in glee. Tieria, who was at the front seat next to Lockon, shifted on his seat to look at me.

"Are you alright, Setsuna?" Tieria asked, concern was evident on his tone. I only nodded.

"We were worried about you!" Lockon said as he made a turn to the left.

"The EMT's saw you and wanted to get you to the hospital." Allelujah said. I tried to sit up again, but Allelujah pushed me gently back down again saying I needed to rest.

"But we knew you can manage it somehow, you pilot a freaking Gundam, you should be able to take it. Besides, even though you're our little boy, you're still a grown man." Lockon added with pride. I was flattered by the small compliment. I saw my scarf hanging on Lockon's front seat. Allelujah and I were at the back seats.

"Go back to sleep." Tieria sounded more demanding than concerned. He added, "Get some rest until we arrive at Lockon's house." Wait, what?

"What do you mean.. by 'Lockon's house'?" I asked dizzily.

"Oh! About that, we were suppose to drop you off at your condo-apartment, but we don't know how to go there." Lockon informed.

"And even if we do, we wouldn't leave you there all by yourself." Allelujah added.

"We're all having a sleepover at my house." He turned his head to look at me and beamed at me. Allelujah and Tieria did the same.

It was then I felt a fuzzy feeling in my chest, is it the feeling of security and familiarity the three of them provide me? Nevertheless, for all the shouting, scolding, teasing and being all protective around me, there were things I can't get enough of. The fact that they know what I like and what I hate. The fact that they scold and sermon me because they care for me. The fact that they give off this immeasurable feeling of happiness and protection. I would never get tired of that feeling. To know that they were safe with me, that they were together with me was worth it all.

And I would never _ever_ trade it for _anything_ in this world.

**•END**

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**•Authoress Note**

**:First Gundam fic :D I don't have a particular pairing in Gundam so I made a friendship fic. I hope you enjoyed. I always love it when they treat Setsuna as a kid. The timeline is already in Season 2, and let's just say the original Lockon Stratos didn't die in this fic :(  
**

**(This long oneshot is part of the PЯOTOTYPE series.)**

**Disclaimer: Gundam 00 belongs to Sunrise. **


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